Bonus Cheap Hits: Getting personal with ... Jarrian Rhone

With WT in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs, we interviewed two players this week to recap last week's win against No. 10 Indianapolis, preview this week's game against No. 7 Ohio Dominican and talk about life off the field. Today Jarrian Rhone talks about the playoffs, and Friday senior linebacker Chris Olsen will give his thoughts on a unique aspect of team unity.

Rhone, a 21-year-old, 5-foot-8, 175-pound sophomore wide receiver from Silsbee, caught three passes for 16 yards Saturday in a 27-14 win over Indianapolis. Rhone has 32 receptions for 343 yards and four touchdowns for the season. He is also second on the team with 345 kick return yards on 13 attempts for an average of 26.5 yards per return.

What was it like to go up to Indianapolis and get that win? “It was a great experience, you know. Coach always says you’re not promised these times forever, so enjoy it. I’ve been enjoying every minute, every aspect of the game and just being with the team every day.”

What do you know about Ohio Dominican at this point? “They’re a very athletic team and they’re undefeated so they’re going to be good. We know we’ve got to come with the best of our game and have as few mistakes as possible.”

With these road trips week after week, does that wear one you at all? “I feel like away games make us play better. We focus more, we’re not trying to do too much to impress anybody. We don’t know anybody there, so I feel like away games are better for our team. Eliminate the noise.”

What kind of groove do you feel like the offense is in right now? “I feel like we’re getting pretty hot right now. We’ve been practicing hard every day. We’re trying to make sure that we’ve got our connections down. (Senior quarterback Dustin) Vaughan will stay with us after practice and make sure we’ve got our routes down and our timing down and everything, so I feel like everything is just on point right now.”

Does the excitement level go up when you get to this point in the playoffs? “Oh yes. The pressure of the game, this is what we work all season for. You don’t work all offseason to play in non-meaningful games. You work all offseason to play in games like this, so we’re loving and embracing it and enjoying every minute of it.”